Research

Is Sheriff Biden putting any of his time into searching for stimulus jobs? We ask because President Obama promised that the stimulus would help “poor and working” Americans, and instead, as Time Magazine reports, those funds aren’t going to areas that have been the hardest hit by the recession:

Miami's poorer residents have long complained that the city's meager public-transit system makes it harder for them to get to work. So when the Obama Administration announced the $787 billion stimulus plan earlier this year, many hoped some of that money would help fund plans like an expansion of Miami's undersized Metrorail system — especially a 10-mile northern extension that would reach into predominantly African-American and other minority communities largely cut off from downtown and other employment centers. But the project, in part because it's not considered as shovel-ready as jobs like existing highway maintenance, isn't getting any of the $15 billion in stimulus aid for Florida, and has been shelved for the time being … that's just one example of how federal and state governments are missing a great opportunity to use the stimulus to aid the poor and minority communities hardest hit …

So if stimulus funds aren’t going to “poor and working” Americans, who might be getting all that money? According to USA Today, criminals:

Federal prosecutors are investigating a dozen cases of possible fraud involving the $787 billion stimulus package, a USA TODAY review of government records shows. There are an additional 88 active investigations of potential misuse of that money, according to reports filed by internal watchdogs at 29 federal agencies managing stimulus funds and the congressional Government Accountability Office. Separately, GAO criminal investigators are reviewing nine cases, acting GAO head Gene Dodaro has said.

Sheriff Biden? Are you there?